Relationship Problems
by Pit-Trap
Summary: Something Ivan didn't have. Relationship problems, that is. Well Nathan was going to change that. Starting by getting Ivan and Keith together.


Pit-Trap: I do not own these characters, Tiger and Bunny, etc.

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"You're staring."

"I am not."

"Yes, you are. You've got this blank, dreamy look on your face."

"I do not!"

"Yes, you _do_. You're just sitting there, watching him work out-"

"I am not!"

"-flexing his muscles-"

"No!"

"-and waiting for him to-"

"I'm trying to work out here," Ivan set the dumbbell he was lifting down and stood up. "And you're being very distracting." He made for the treadmills. "Excuse me."

Nathan stared at him for a moment before snapping into action. "Wait up, cutie!" He ran across the training center to the treadmills as well and jumped onto the one right next to Ivan's. "I didn't mean to sound so blunt," Nathan said as he started his treadmill. "I was just stating the facts."

Ivan didn't reply.

Nathan bit his lip. "Maybe I could help," he offered.

Ivan still didn't say anything, but turned to give Nathan a half-hearted glare.

"I know we may not be the closest of friends, but I'd love to help," Nathan smiled. "I'm _great_ with relationship problems."

Ivan nearly tripped on the treadmill. "Relationship _what_?" He glared at Nathan once more. "I don't have relationship problems!"

"That's the problem!" Nathan exclaimed. "So if we get you into a relationship, you'd have problems and I could help you fix them. But you aren't. So I guess I'll have to help you get into a relationship first."

"How do you know if I even want to be in a relationship?"

"Well with the way you were staring at our dear Sky High over there…"

"I was not staring!"

Nathan rolled his eyes. "Do you want my help or not?"

Ivan looked away. "It wouldn't work, even with your help," he mumbled. "I'm the worst hero here. None of the other heroes would ever go out with me, especially _him_…"

Nathan frowned. He looked over to Keith, who was energetically lifting weights, oblivious to their conversation. He then looked back to a dejected looking Ivan and gave him a reassuring smile. "Cutie, with my help, Sky High will be blown away by you."

Ivan raised a wary eyebrow.

"You like him right?"

Ivan blinked. He looked back over to where Keith was, then looked towards the ground and gave a small nod.

"Then trust me."

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"A criminal is one the run," the Hero TV: Live announcer said to the current broadcast. "A NEXT by the looks of it. He's stolen jewels from three different jewelry stores in under an hour and is now escaping by jumping rooftop to rooftop! Which hero will be the first to arrive?"

A speedy, bright orange race car suddenly speed by one of the Hero TV: Live cameras.

"Oh, it's Fire Emblem, racing to the scene! Looks like he's the first to arrive! Oh, wait, what's that?"

One of the cameras zoomed in on Fire Emblem's car. Origami Cyclone was riding on top of it!

"And Origami Cyclone is there as well! Look's like he decided to hitch a ride!"

Origami Cyclone flashed a peace sign to the camera.

Fire Emblem rolled down a window. "Hey, don't show off while you're on _my_ car! You should be thankful I'm giving you a lift!"

"Sorry," Origami Cyclone said. "But are you sure this is even going to work?"

"Of course!" Fire Emblem paused as he made a sharp turn. "Sky High will probably be the next one on scene. This type of capture would be easy for him. But we're not gonna let him catch this criminal! You're going to catch this criminal to impress him!"

"But we catch criminals all the time," Origami Cyclone protested. "I don't see how-!"

"Just catch the criminal!"

"Oh, look who's here!" Cameras suddenly looked behind Fire Emblem's racecar.

"Huh?" Both Fire Emblem and Origami Cyclone looked behind them after hearing the announcer's sudden outburst. They turned to see Sky High flying to the scene, not too far behind them.

"Oh, how'd that Sky High catch up so fast?" Fire Emblem speed up, ignoring the announcer's excited babbling about the other hero's appearance.

"And Sky High is on his way!" The Hero TV: Live announcer said to the broadcast excitedly. "I wonder which one of these heroes will catch the crook!" Multiple cameras then turned back and zoomed in on the criminal as he jumped from building to building. "Looks like he's headed for the downtown area! But where are the heroes?" A few cameras looked around expectedly, but the heroes all seemed to have suddenly disappeared from the camera's sight…

"Stop right there!" Cameras snapped towards the voice.

The thief paused atop the current roof he was on to see Fire Emblem standing no less than ten feet away. "Ha," the jewel thief smirked at him. "You don't scare me. I've got my own powers!" Then, with a mighty leap, the crook was able to clear the gap between two buildings in one leap.

"You think that will save you?"

The jewel thief turned to see a second Fire Emblem standing on the same roof as him. "Huh?" He looked back over to the other roof, but the first Fire Emblem was still over there!

Cameras hovering above the scene looked on. "Oh," the announcer awed. "Two Fire Emblems? One must be Origami Cyclone, but which one?" TVs all over the city flashed images of the two Fire Emblems and thief as the cameras eagerly watched.

"You should really quit while you're ahead, honey," the first Fire Emblem said as he jumped over to the roof the criminal and other Fire Emblem were on.

"I know one of you isn't the real deal," the jewel thief growled. "And I bet it's you!" He took a threatening step forward and pointed to the first Fire Emblem.

"Who? Me?" Fire Emblem pointed to himself. "Oh, I'm so sorry, but you got it-"

"-wrong!" Before the jewel thief knew what was happening, Origami Cyclone changed back into his normal hero self and quickly knocked the thief out with the hilt of his samurai sword. The man fell to the ground.

"And the catch goes to Origami Cyclone!" The Hero TV: Live announcer announced as spotlights flashed to Origami Cyclone. TVs all over the city flashed Origami Cyclone's earned points for catching the criminal. "What a great use of his power!"

Police swarmed the rooftop to apprehend the jewel thief, while a camera approached Origami Cyclone. "I'm glad to have helped," he said simply.

"Oh," the announcer awed in sympathy as the camera then whipped around to Sky High, who hovered not too far away. "Poor Sky High missed his chance to catch the crook!"

"As long as the crook is caught," Sky High said to the camera. "All is well with me. I thank Origami for his cleverness and thank him again!"

As the cameras focused on Sky High, Origami Cyclone walked over to Fire Emblem, frowning. "He says that to everybody. I don't think my catch impressed him that much…"

"Hmm…" Fire Emblem hummed in thought. "Then we'll move on to Plan B!"

"Plan B?" Origami Cyclone repeated. "I don't remember you mentioning a Plan B."

"I'll tell you right nowahhh… ah…ah… _Achoo!_" Fire Emblem suddenly interrupted himself with a sneeze. A sneeze accompanied with fire. Fire that sprayed in Origami Cyclone's general direction.

"Yikes!" Origami Cyclone jumped to the side and out of the way of the sudden spray of flames. "That was- huh?" Though he jumped out of the way of the flames in time, he hadn't realized how close to the edge of the rooftop he was. After tripping over the edge, Origami Cyclone now found himself plummeting to the streets below.

"Oops," Fire Emblem glanced sheepishly over the side of the building. "Sorry, cutie!"

"You idiooooooot…!" Origami Cyclone wailed, frantically flailing his arms as if they'd make his fall slow down.

"Yoooo-hoooo~ Sky High!" Fire Emblem called to the other hero. "We could use some help over here!" He pointed down to the falling Origami Cyclone.

Sky High quickly turned his attention to the call, and immediately snapped into action. "Origami!" Manipulating the wind easily, he sent wave of air over to Origami Cyclone, which slowed his fall downwards. Sky High quickly flew over and caught Origami, bridal-style. He then descended down to the ground. "Are you alright, Origami?" Sky High asked as he set the other hero down.

"I-"

"Oh, Origami!" Fire Emblem called as he raced over to the two. "I am _so_ sorry! I just couldn't hold that _nasty_ sneeze back. Are you alright?"

"I'd be better if it wasn't caught on camera…" Origami Cyclone grumbled embarrassingly, sending a glare over to Fire Emblem.

"Huh?" Fire Emblem blinked in confusion. "That was caught on camera?"

A camera did indeed train itself on the three heroes after catching the little incident. "Hmm…" the Hero TV: Live announcer wondered. "Should Sky High receive points for that save? He still helped someone, after all…"

"I refuse to accept any points for that," Sky High said to the camera. "It was an accident after all."

"What a guy!" The announcer said to the broadcast. "Accepting no points after helping a fellow hero. Now there's a hero for you!"

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"Come on, just do it."

"I don't know…"

"Oh, come on! Trust me."

"The last time you said that I ended up falling- pardon me, _getting pushed_ from a twenty story building." Ivan glared over to Nathan, remembering the other day's incident all too well.

Nathan chuckled nervously. "Well that was Plan B."

"Plan B almost killed me!"

"But it didn't," Nathan pointed out. "Sky High saved you."

Ivan frowned and made no reply.

"Look, now's another chance to catch his attention," Nathan elbowed Ivan in the side. "Perfect timing. Just hop onto the treadmill next to him and start talking."

Ivan looked across the room. Nathan and him were currently on one side of the training center, while Keith was on the other side, jogging on a treadmill. They were the only three there at the moment. The other heroes weren't around. It did seem like a good opportunity to talk to Keith… Ivan looked at Nathan uncertainly. "Just… talk to him? About what?"

"Anything," Nathan prompted. "The weather, his clothes, kittens, eggs, _anything_. Just get to know him better, find out more about him. Maybe you'll find something you won't expect."

"Okay then…" Ivan stood up from the bench they were sitting on and started for the treadmills.

"Wait a minute," Nathan suddenly said and Ivan stopped, turning to face him. A thoughtful smile graced Nathan's lips. "Make sure you turn up your treadmill really fast. Faster than his at least."

Ivan raised an eyebrow. "What, is my running supposed to impress him now?"

"Just do it!"

Ivan sighed and turned back to the treadmills. He blinked. "How am I supposed to talk to him when…?" he grumbled to himself. Nathan had said to go faster than Keith on the treadmill. Keith was jogging. Ivan would have to run to be faster than him. How would he be able to run and talk to Keith at the same time, for an extended period of time? Ivan sighed. "Here goes nothing…" He made his way over and hopped onto the treadmill next to Keith's. Ivan started it up and began to run so slow, it barely qualified as running. At least he was going faster than Keith.

Keith turned to look at him as soon as he got on. "Hello, Ivan, how are you today?"

Good. Keith was starting a conversation. Maybe this would be easier than he thought. "Pretty good, and yourself?"

"Excellent!" Keith grinned. "I don't know why, but I feel like I have so much energy. I feel like I could jog for hours!" As if to prove his point, Keith turned his treadmill up to jog even faster.

Ivan inwardly groaned. Now he would have to turn _his_ up faster too. He quickly did so and then smiled to Keith. "I-I see," he said and then paused, lost at what to say next. He needed to think of some conversation material, quick! Keith had a dog, right? "Um," Ivan swallowed before going on. "How's John been doing, Keith? I haven't heard you talk about him for a while."

"John's been great!" Keith responded, eager to talk about his dog. "Well, okay I suppose. He's gained a lot of weight recently. I think I've spoiled him too much... I need to walk him more."

"O-oh," Ivan responded, trying to keep his breathing steady. "Is it difficult to own a dog? It sounds like a lot of work."

"It's well worth the work," Keith responded brightly. "There are highs and lows to owning any type of pet, actually, but the companionship is worth it! Have you ever had a pet before, Ivan?"

How the hell was Keith jogging and talking at the same time so easily? He'd already been jogging for a good thirty minutes too! "N-no," Ivan sucked in a breath. "I haven't."

"Maybe you should consider getting one," Keith suggested. "You live alone, don't you?"

Keith remembered that? "Uh, yeah," Ivan tried to say something else, but stumbled a bit before he could. He straightened up and continued running, but he was getting tired. Why did Nathan want him to run again? This wasn't easy!

"You must get lonely sometimes," Keith noted with a frown.

Ivan's muscles were beginning to ache. "I-I suppose."

"Hey, maybe you could come over to my place sometime and meet John! You haven't yet, have you?" Keith went on without waiting for a response. "You could see what it's like having a pet."

Ivan sucked in a breath. Keith was inviting him over? Okay, he didn't really want to go over and talk about pets, but that wasn't the point! Ivan swallowed before going on. "That sounds grea_aaackkk_!" His feet suddenly decided to protest all this tiring running. Ivan stumbled again, but this time wasn't able to catch himself. He tripped, falling forward and landing face first on the moving treadmill. Ivan then slide of the end of treadmill and landed in a painful heap behind it.

"Ivan!" He heard Keith yell, but didn't respond.

Ivan closed his eyes in pain and unfolded himself, instead now lying on his back. He groaned and brought his hands up to his face. His cheeks and forehead would more than likely be bruised and scratched. He felt blood trickle from his nose. Ivan wondered if it was broken. He groaned again. "Ow…"

"Ivan!" Keith said again and jumped off his treadmill. He kneeled next to Ivan. "Are you alright?"

"I… I think." Ivan paused to take in some air and steady his breathing. He had simply been running too much on that treadmill.

"But your nose is bleeding."

Ivan brought a hand up to his nose. "Ow," he tried to wiggle his nose a bit. He hoped it wasn't broken…

"Let's stop the bleeding," Keith suggested and stood up. He walked over to a bag next to his treadmill and pulled something out of it. "Here," he said, kneeling down next to Ivan again and offering him a hand towel.

Ivan sat up, staring at the offering. "But that's your towel," he protested.

"Don't worry, I haven't used it yet, so it's not sweaty or anything," Keith assured him.

That wasn't exactly what Ivan meant, but before he could protest again, Keith dabbed the towel over his nose, placed his other hand on the back of Ivan's head, and tilted Ivan's head back. Ivan blinked twice before reaching for the towel and taking it from Keith, though he still kept his hand on the back of Ivan's head as he tilted it back. "Thanks," Ivan mumbled around the towel, fighting back a blush.

"Not a problem," Keith said. "It was my fault anyway."

"What?" Ivan glanced at Keith with a questioning look. "It wasn't your fault."

"Yes, it was," Keith frowned. "If I hadn't been talking to you so much, you wouldn't have tripped. I was distracting. I'm sorry and sorry again…"

Ivan adjusted the towel. "It wasn't your fault. Really," he said. "I-I just lost my footing, that's all." That and he had been running too damn fast. What was Nathan's deal? Telling him to run like that… It was like he knew Ivan wouldn't be able to handle it and would t- wait a minute. Ivan _had_ tripped. After he did, Keith helped him. And Nathan had suddenly disappeared from the training center during all that, leaving Keith and Ivan alone. What a bastard. Nathan knew (or just flat out guessed for all Ivan knew) that if Ivan ran really fast on the treadmill, that he'd injure himself in some way, and then Keith would help him, thus catching his attention.

"Ivan, you still okay?" Keith's voice interrupted Ivan's realization. "You kind of spaced out there for a moment. You haven't lost too much blood, have you?"

"No, I'm fine," Ivan said quickly, dabbing the towel on his nose a few times and looking away.

There was a moment's pause between the two, and then Keith suddenly leaned forward. Bringing a hand up, he brushed aside the bangs on Ivan's forehead. Ivan froze. "Your forehead's not bleeding too badly. Just a few scratches," Keith noted. His hand then brushed along Ivan's cheek. "Your cheeks look better than anything. They might bruise later though."

Ivan panicked as he felt his face heat up. He stood up suddenly with newfound energy, towel still pushed in his face. "E-Excuse me," he mumbled, and then practically _ran_ in the direction of the training center's locker rooms.

Keith stood up too. "Wait, what about your nose? Are you sure you're alright?"

"I-I'll be fine! Thank you for the towel!" Ivan shouted back in a hurried voice, careful not to turn his head so Keith wouldn't see him blushing. Face still hidden in the towel, he soon disappeared from Keith's sight as he hurried away to the locker rooms.

Keith stared after him. "Did I do something wrong?" he wondered.

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Ivan folded once more and then admired his work. He held up a small, green, and now finished paper crane. With a sigh, he set it down next to the first one he had made. Ivan was sitting on a bench at the park. A fountain sprayed right behind the bench, which he turned around to stare at. Why was he here again? Oh yeah, because Nathan had said Keith often walked his dog here and there was a (small) chance Ivan might see him. Ivan sighed again. Maybe he shouldn't listen to Nathan about all his relationship help anymore… It wasn't very helpful. Ivan doubted Keith had noticed him any more or would ever want to go out with him. All Ivan had accomplished these past few days was embarrassing himself in front of the one he admired most.

Turning away from the fountain, Ivan glanced down at the two paper cranes next to him on the bench. He fought back another sigh and stood up. There was no point in being here. He wasn't going to see Keith, and even if he somehow did, he would probably just embarrass himself again. He should just stop while he was ahead. Ivan began the walk home, leaving the two paper cranes alone on the bench. The sun was beginning to set as he walked down the paths of the park, hands stuffed in his pockets. Ivan almost made it out of the park too, but something happened before he could. A random dog, with a leash dragging behind it, came running up to him. Tailing wagging, it jumped up on Ivan and barked excitedly.

"Whoa," Ivan said and knelt down to the dog's level. It whined and tried to lick his face. Ivan laughed and pushed it away. "Where's your owner, boy?" he asked the dog as he petted it. Ivan knew enough about dogs to know it was a Golden retriever. He paused. Wasn't Keith's dog a Golden retriever? He wasn't a hundred percent sure, but… Ivan stared at the dog, still petting it. No, it wasn't possible. This couldn't be Keith's dog. The chance of it being his would be one in a-

"Hey, Ivan!"

…million. Ivan turned to see Keith running in his direction, waving. Ivan quickly glanced at the dog next to him. _No way._ Ivan stood up, while the dog leaned against his legs, tailing still wagging. "Keith, hi," he said, blinking.

"Sorry and sorry again, was John bothering you?" Keith asked, grabbing the dog's leash and pulling him away.

"No, he's fine," Ivan shook his head. "He just came running up to me. I didn't mind." He paused. "Were you walking him?"

"Yes, but then he suddenly took off. I really need to keep a better grip on the leash," Keith smiled and shrugged before clearing his throat. "Care to walk with me?"

Should he? If he did, he might embarrass himself again, but if he didn't… "Uh, sure," Ivan nodded.

Keith's grin widened and he started walking. Ivan followed. "So what are you doing at the park, Ivan?" Keith asked.

"Me?" Ivan thought quickly. "Oh, you know, just taking a walk. Thinking… about stuff…" Oh, that sounded positively pitiful.

"Ah," Keith nodded. "How long have you been here? I don't want to bother you for too long or anything."

Oh, an hour or two. "You're fine, I haven't been here long," Ivan lied. "Around thirty minutes, give or take a few…"

Keith nodded and looked like he was about to say something, but stopped when he realized something. "Oh, yeah! Is your nose alright? You disappeared before I could check on you again the other day." It was true. The treadmill incident happened two days ago. They hadn't seen each other since due to work and hero issues mainly keeping them apart.

The two turned a corner before Ivan replied. "I'm fine. My nose wasn't broken or anything, thankfully. And thanks again for letting me use your towel too. I've washed it and I'll give it back to you tomorrow."

Keith waved his hand dismissively. "Keep it," he said. "I have others."

"Oh, uh, okay…"

"But," Keith suddenly stopped walking. Ivan stopped too, and John looked up at Keith, tongue lolling. "Can I keep something of yours I found?"

Ivan looked puzzled. "…What?"

Keith began feeling around in his jacket pockets. A second later, he pulled out two green paper cranes, which now looked slightly crumpled. He held them out in his hand. "I found them on a bench near the fountain in the middle of the park. Nathan said you would be here, so I figured you made them."

Ivan was shocked and the look on his face clearly showed it. He stared at Keith for a moment, lost at what to say. "Nathan… said… huh?" He was completely lost.

Keith blinked. "Uh… Well Nathan said you'd be here," he repeated. "They… You did make these, right?"

"Yes, but…" Ivan tired to think straight. "What did Nathan say about me, exactly?"

Keith blinked before coughing into his hand awkwardly. "Quite a few things actually," he mumbled. "He told me a few things before I left the training center earlier today. Stuff about that jewel thief, and why he sneezed on you, and what happened with the treadmill… And, you know, a few other things…"

What a bastard. "He… he did?" Ivan couldn't believe it. And he thought Nathan would help him. Instead Nathan just flat out told Keith his secret.

"Yeah," Keith looked at the ground. He reached out a hand to pet John, who just wagged his tail and looked between the two heroes. "He kept saying how I was an idiot and really dense if I didn't know about your feelings for me…"

"He said that too…?"

"Uh-huh," Keith frowned as he looked at Ivan. "Then he said I needed to man up, grow a pair, and ask you out."

Ivan raised an eyebrow and held back a smile. Maybe Nathan wasn't such a bastard after all…

"He also said I should do a few less appropriate things to you," Keith admitted. "But I kind of stopped listening after that." He chuckled a bit, and then sighed. "Err, but anyway…" Keith suddenly looked nervous. "I need to… uh, tell you… um, something…" he coughed into his hand. "Um, first… I'm sorry and, you know, sorry again for ignoring your feelings and all. I'm 'an oblivious, air-headed idiot', as Nathan said."

"No, you're not," Ivan said with a frown. "If anyone's the idiot here, it's me. I… I thought Nathan could help me, but he couldn't. I don't blame him. He tried his best to help me… I think anyway…" he shook his head. "Err, anyway, I got too caught up in my feelings I guess. I'm sorry I've been such a bother to you these past few days. Thanks for putting up with me though." Ivan managed a smile and took a step away from Keith. "Well, I'll… I'll see you at work tomorrow, then." He turned to walk away.

"Wait!" Keith's voice made Ivan stop. "You didn't let me finish," he said and Ivan turned around, confused. "…Would you like to go out sometime?"

Ivan stared. He blinked, once, twice, and then again. An even more confused look appeared on his face. "Huh?"

"You know, go out… maybe to a movie or dinner or… something," Keith offered a smile.

"…" Ivan's face was unreadable.

"You don't have to if you don't want to," Keith said quickly. "It's just Nathan did say you had a huge crush on me and then I realized that I kind-!"

"You don't have to ask me out just because Nathan said you should," Ivan interrupted the other, face embarrassingly red. "You won't hurt my feelings or anything."

Keith frowned. "But… but I really do want to go out with you."

Ivan stared, making no reply.

"You see, after Nathan told me about all this, I realized how oblivious I was. You were trying so hard to get noticed and I was being so stupid, not realizing it. Not realizing what a great person, and hero, you are, not realizing how hard you were trying, or how cute you are, or how much I like all those little origami things you make, or how…" Keith stopped his ramblings with a sudden sigh. "I really am an idiot."

"I think we can agree that we're both idiots," Ivan said a bit sheepishly.

"Can we agree about it over dinner?"

Ivan blinked in surprise. "I, err… really?"

"Yes, really and yes, really again!"

Ivan gave a small nod after a few seconds. "I'd like that," he said with a smile.

Keith smiled back. "And can I keep the little origami birds too?" he asked.

Ivan looked to see Keith still had the two paper cranes in his hands. "Yeah," he nodded again, staring at them. Keith's grin grew as he leaned over to hug Ivan, and start rambling about a great Italian place just a few blocks away. Ivan hugged back. He would have to thank Nathan later. That man really _was_ good with relationship problems. Even though Ivan _still _didn't have any.

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A/N: Pffft, what did I just write? Fail in the 1st Degree, that's what.

…This couple is so cute? Why aren't there more FanFics about them?


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